Dionysius Exiguus Got It Right

ABSTRACT: Proposes Dionysius correctly selected the dates for Jesus’ birth and death. Jesus Christ was born on or near December 25, 1 BC and died on Passover AD 33. Eclipse data indicates the traditional death of Herod in 4 BC is wrong and that he died in 1 AD. Tracking the priestly courses indicates the time of the birth of John the Baptist was in August 2 BC and Jesus in late December 1 BC or Early January 1 AD. Eclipse data locks 33 AD in as the year of Jesus death.

 

Copyright Ó 2000 Bruce A. Killian                email bruce@tckillian.com

To index          updated 9/13/00                      File: http://www.tckillian.com/bible/DionysiusExiguus.htm

 

            Do the exact details of these dates matter? The apostle Peter tells us, the prophets guided by the Spirit carefully and diligently searched to know these times and details. “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.”[1] We would profitably follow their example.

Dionysius Exiguus was a Scythian monk and prominent scholar who lived in Rome and who had access to the state and church archives including many records now lost. Dionysius carefully selected the year we call 1 BC for the birth of Christ, and set the date at December 25th as was customary in his time, and commenced the Christian Era with January 1, 1 AD (seven days later) to agree with the start of the ordinary Roman year. [2] If these dates are correct, our current year starts on the day Jesus was circumcised and named.[3]

 

 

The areas of problem are the dates of Jesus' birth, start and length of His ministry and the date of His death.  There is much apparently contradictory evidence.  The first set places the death of Jesus in Nisan AD 30; the second set of evidence places His death in Nisan AD 33.  The year AD 30 and 33 are fixed as the main choices. Only in these years was a Friday crucifixion astronomically possible.  The alternate days of the week for the crucifixion are without serious merit.  A later paper may deal with this topic. For the length of Jesus’ ministry, see Jesus2yearministry.

God prompting the Church to establish the standard dating system (Anno Domini, Gregorian Calendar) used worldwide, influenced the accurate selection of the date chosen for the birth of our LORD.  This would best fit the scenario that Jesus was about 30 when he began his public ministry early in AD 31 and died in AD 33. If there were a year 0, it would be 1 BC.  If Jesus was born Dec 25 1 BC he would just be 30 years (and 7 days) old at the start of 31 AD or 32 years old when he died Passover 33 AD.

No ancient historian recorded the birth of Jesus in 4 BC. This date is based on the statement of Josephus that the death of Herod the Great occurred shortly after an eclipse of the moon.  This eclipse is said to have occurred on March 13, 4 BC.  This is the only eclipse recorded by Josephus. The eclipse that occurred in March 4 BC was a minor partial eclipse that was only visible from 2 to 4AM.  This eclipse would only be noticed by a small number of people, and Josephus would be unlikely to record it.  There was a partial eclipse in which more than half the orb was obscured that was visible for 2 hours from the time the moon became visible about 20 minutes after sunset on December 29, 1 BC.  Since Herod died after the eclipse, but some two months before the Passover, this eclipse more closely fits the data regarding the time of the birth of Jesus.[4] Lunar eclipses visible in Jerusalem near this time are September 15, 5 BC; March 14, 4 BC; January 10, 1 BC; and December 29, 1 BC.[5] The main reconciliating assumption is that King Herod the Great died five years later than is normally assumed. “Of the candidates to be Herod’s eclipse, the December 29, 1 B.C. eclipse was the most likely to be widely observed.”[6]

The date for Jesus’ birth can be further narrowed with the following information.  Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist was a priest of the order of Abijah,[7] and was executing his priestly office as part of his course at the time of the announcement of the birth of John.[8]  Abijah is the eighth of twenty-four courses of priests. [9]   Each course served for eight days overlapping with the preceding and following courses on the Sabbaths. Three times per year during the weeklong feasts of Unleavened Bread, Weeks and Tabernacles all the priests ministered.  This occasion is not one of those because Zechariah's course is ministering.[10] Since the festivals did not necessarily start and end on the Sabbath, these would not interfere with the order of the courses.  The first course of priests had just taken office when the temple was destroyed on August 5, 70 AD.[11] The previous Sabbath started August 3, AD 70.  This date indicates that the courses rotate through the year—rather than restarting yearly on Nisan 1. The following table tracks the dates of the courses back through the years from 70 AD and included the dates for the earliest start of Elizabeth’s sixth month and Mary’s 9th month from there. This assumes Elizabeth becomes pregnant after the end for Zechariah’s service not before or during it. It is unlikely that the priests served two successive weeks because then each course must serve a Sabbath with only one course of priests serving.

Counting backward subtract (24*7) 168 days for each cycle of the entire course. Continuing back to the time of Jesus ministry and on to his birth, we can discern elements of the time of certain events. Abia or Abijah, the 8th course was the course of Zechariah and John the Baptist. The course of Abijah started ministering on the 50th day of the cycle day 49.


 

336=24*7*2

1st course

8th course

6th month

9th month

1st course

8th course

6th month

9th month

 

 

When John and Zechariah ministered

When Mary conceived

When Jesus was born

 

When John and Zechariah ministered

When Mary conceived

When Jesus was born

each row 336

3 Aug 70

All Saturday

All Saturday

All Saturday

All Saturday

 

 

 

days earlier

1 Sep 69

+50 days

+(5*30)-14+7

+(30*9)-14

16 Feb 70

 

 

 

All dates

30 Sep 68

 

days

days

+(24*7)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

are Julian

17 Sep 34

6 Nov 34

 

 

4 Mar 35

23 Apr 35

 

 

Dates AD

16 Oct 33

5 Dec 33

 

 

2 Apr 34

22 May 34

 

 

unless noted

14 Nov 32

3 Jan 33

 

 

1 May 33

20 Jun 33

 

 

 

14 Dec 31

2 Feb 32

 

 

30 May 32

19 Jul 32

 

 

John turns 30

12 Jan 31

3 Mar 31[12]

 

 

29 Jun 31

18 Aug 31

 

 

11 Aug 30

10 Feb 30

1 Apr 30

 

 

28 Jul 30

16 Sep 30[13]

 

 

 

11 Mar 29

30 Apr 29

 

 

26 Aug 29

15 Oct 29

 

 

 

9 Apr 28

29 May 28

 

 

24 Sep 28

13 Nov 28

 

 

 

9 May 27

28 Jun 27

 

 

24 Oct 27

13 Dec 27

 

 

            

7 Jun 26

27 Jul 26

 

 

22 Nov 26

11 Jan 27

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Aug 1

24 Sep 1

14 Feb 2

28 Oct 2

20 Jan 02

11 Mar 2

1 Aug 2

14 Apr 3

John's birth

3 Sep 1BC

23 Oct1BC

15 Mar 1

26 Nov 1

18 Feb 01

9 Apr 1

30 Aug 1

13 May 2

11 Aug 1BC

3 Oct 2BC

22 Nov 2BC[14]

13 Apr 1BC[15]

25 Dec 1BC[16]

19 Mar 1BC

8 May 1BC

28 Sep 1BC

11 Jun 1AD

 

1 Nov 3BC

21 Dec 3BC

13 May 2BC

24 Jan 1BC

18 Apr 2BC

7 Jun 2BC

28 Oct 2BC

10 Jul 1BC

 

30 Nov 4BC

19 Jan 3BC

11 Jun 3BC

22 Feb 2BC

17 May 3BC

6 Jul 3BC

26 Nov 3BC

9 Aug 2BC

 

29 Dec 5BC

17 Feb 4BC

10 Jul 4BC

23 Mar 3BC

15 Jun 4BC

4 Aug 4BC

25 Dec 4BC

7 Sep 3BC

 

28 Jan 5BC

18 Mar 5BC

8 Aug 5BC

21 Apr 4BC

14 Jul 5BC

2 Sep 5BC

23 Jan 4BC

6 Oct 4BC

 

 

 

1 Jan 1AD

Circumcision